2015 Triple Bypass

Best Triple Bypass ever!

Well, at least for me: I beat my previous best time by over 90 minutes, didn't go hypothermic -- and nobody felt the need to call Medical to revive me. I felt great at the finish line, and am not all that sore today. My friends rode well and were all smiles at the end, too. Overall, it was a darn good day.

But I feel ZERO urge to ever do this event again. Cross it off the list.

Oh sure, I could still get faster. I could still train to climb better, and I could correct the tactical mistakes I made in this ride. And it's not that I didn't have fun -- I will never outgrow the joy that comes from riding in the mountains and enjoying the beauty of Colorado's epic vistas, nor will I ever tire of the camaraderie and energy boost that comes from sharing a challenge with a happy crowd of outstanding athletes. Team Evergreen does a great job putting on the event.

But I'm OK with enjoying it vicariously from now on. I've gotten what I needed from it.

What I won't miss is the general tension I held during the entire ride. My neck, shoulders, and arms are sore today because I maintained a desperate kung-fu grip on the handlebars all day long. I was terrified that any little wobble in my form would lead to some sort of collision.

Yes, I do understand that I could overcome those fears via more pack cycling experience, better core strength, and new glasses that didn't cause me to Linda Blair my neck just so my trifocals would be at the right level to see the road. But I don't feel the urge to do those things.

Oh, I shall continue to enjoy riding, no doubt about that. I'll just choose to ride when there aren't 3000 other bikers out there, elbow-to-elbow with me. The experienced pelotoners (pelotonites?) seem to have no problem passing within millimeters of us amateurs, but I have to say that it makes me nervous, especially considering that I have enough trouble maintaining verticality when not under duress.

Anyway, let's get to the actual ride report, shall we?

I mounted up at 5:17am and started up Squaw Pass. The weather was just about perfect; cool, but tolerable in just the shorts and jersey. I wore long socks (which we shall discuss more later), but left the jacket and sleeves in my backpack. I am pleased to say that I remembered nearly everything I intended to bring -- forgetting only my headlamp and taillight, and my rear-view mirror. Being without lights was not a problem, but I wish I'd have remembered the mirror to help with the above-mentioned peloton anxiety.

I saw my friends Rich and Laurel at the aid station on top of the pass, and was pleased to see that they were all smiles and having fun, too. As planned, I ate like a pig -- bagels with peanut butter, Fig Newtons, bananas, and mixed nuts. Visited the porta-potty and observed that I probably needed to be drinking even more. I took a few more swigs, filled up all my water bottles, then remounted the bike.

I was adequately warm, and therefore opted to continue sans-jacket for the descent past Echo Lake. This was a serious tactical mistake.

It wasn't so much about comfort as about safety. Within moments of starting downhill, my hands went numb from the cold. The back of the pass was still in the shade...and I was going fast! Brrr!

I think I would've been confident at that speed if it weren't for the shivering and icy fingers. But as my teeth chattered and lips turned blue, I used whatever force I could put into my numbed hands to squish on the brakes to bring my speed under control. I hated to waste gravity in that way, but I also wanted to live long enough to reach sunlight. A lot of the smarter riders (ie, the ones who put on their gloves and coats) passed me as we careened toward Idaho Springs.

I still held well over 30mph through that section, though, so it really didn't take that long to get down. And I warmed up quickly as I left the shade and came into town. There were lots of people cheering and ringing cowbells along the streets of Idaho Springs, so my spirits and core temperature were quickly restored.

I kept eating and drinking as I rode. Because of the problems I had consuming my Honey Stinger chews in the marathon, I had come up with what turned out to be a brilliant solution to the fueling challenge: Before the race, I had used scissors to chop several bags of chews into quarters. Then, to keep the jellied pieces from sticking together, I rolled them in nutritional shake mix powder. Perfect! The powder made them even tastier, and they were easy to pick up and delightful to chew and swallow. That, my friends, is my big racing hint of the day; please make a note of it.

I ate more bagels at the Easter Seals aid station. (Click to embiggen photos.)



Last time I did this ride, I seriously bonked somewhere around the Georgetown railroad. But this time, I felt good through the entire section. The path along the highway and back through the woods didn't seem nearly as long this year, and I enjoyed listening to the birds and streams and wind in the trees. It was beautiful. Before I knew it, I had arrived at the Loveland Ski Area. Lunchtime!



Rich was just leaving, but my friend Kim was still eating lunch as I arrived. He posed for a picture.



As I stood in the lunch line, I spotted a baggie with money in it on the ground by my feet. I picked it up and noticed that in addition to the cash, there was a driver's license. I was pretty sure of two things: 1) I'd never recognize the guy based on his driver's license photo, and 2) he was probably still in the area since nobody else had picked up the bag. I read his name off the license and then yelled "Hey Greg!"

About 3 people in front of me, a fellow turned around expecting to see someone he knew. His smile morphed into a puzzled look when he saw that a stranger had called his name. Then he smiled again when I returned his stuff.

Then he frowned when he saw that the sandwiches were kinda smushed. Oh well, at least he had enough cash to buy a pizza when the ride was over.

I didn't rush my lunch, but I didn't dally around too much, either. Again, I forced myself to eat and drink a little more than I really wanted, because I knew that the biggest challenge of the day was waiting. Loveland Pass loomed overhead.

It's only about 4 miles long, but it's steep...and at the highest altitude of the course. It nearly defeated me on my last Triple Bypass, and I had been dreading it since I had signed up for the race. But this time, I actually enjoyed it! No problemo.



After my poorly-aimed selfie, I got back on the bike for the next big descent. The weather was still decent, so I once again opted to forego the jacket. But here's where I ran into my only technical problem of the ride: I must've stepped in some mud or something because I couldn't get my right foot clipped into the pedal.

I probably fiddled around for two or three minutes finding a small stick to try to dig out the debris. I removed anything I could see, but noticed that the cleat was pretty beat up -- it might be too mangled to clip in regardless of foreign objects. Oh well. Mildly cursing Finagle, et al, I decided to mount up try to clip in while I was coasting.

After about a mile, it did clip in, and I didn't have much trouble with it at all after that. But I am going to have to buy new cleats soon, if not an entire pedal rig. Any suggestions?

I met up with Kim again near the summit of Swan Mountain. We both posed for pictures.



Check out the socks! (Hey, at least I didn't get sunburned calves.)



From that point on, my ride was pretty smooth. The only hiccup was a small squall I passed through during the ride into Vail. The wind came up and started throwing high-velocity water (ice?)pellets at me that actually made clicking sounds on my helmet and stung my face. The wind also slowed me down. But the entire event only lasted about 10 minutes, and the rest of the ride into Avon proceeded at a pretty good clip. I did manage to draft off a 10-man pack for a couple of miles, but they lost me at the first roundabout. Even so, it seemed like I held a decent pace for those last several miles. I was very happy to find that my fueling strategy had apparently worked!

Still, the finish line was a welcome sight.



My friends Julie and Mark arrived shortly after I did, but told tales of woe about riding through a torrential downpour as they descended Vail Pass. What a difference a few minutes make!

Still, they were smiling once they were able to dry off and get to the food tent.

Kim had also ridden through that part of the storm, but was in good spirits when we were able to sit down and chat in the dining tent. His wife Karen and their friend Julie joined me and Laurel as we handed out mutual congratulations for finishing the ride.

As for me, well, I'm sore and tired...but happy. If you're interested in the ride statistics, here's what my Garmin plotted for me:





I'm not sure what to do with that "5.0 - Overreaching" bullet point. Guess I won't worry about it. I swam on Sunday (slow), and rested on Monday, so I guess I'm ready to get back into training for the Desert's Edge triathlon. We're running hills at Dinosaur Ridge tomorrow!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I still do intend to provide the promised "actors who resemble each other" blog in the near future, so please come back for that one. And I'll also be happy to share anything I notice about how the Triple Bypass affected my running and riding as we move into the latter part of the summer. Much fun awaits!

Have a great day!